TnB Challenge: Pirate Christmas Story (21/24)
Title: Pirate Christmas Story (21/24)
Author: Aranel Took
Characters: Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner
Challenge: there_n_back Advent Calendar Challenge - Day 21
Prompts: bottle, wharf, violin, moon, monkey, fork, hole, lock, sheet, pendant, crystal, cookie, letter, money, tail, chair, bread, seed, peaches, snow, rope
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2100
Summary: Elseworld. Pirate!verse! Christmas in Tortuga.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | Part Twelve | Part Thirteen | Part Fourteen | Part Fifteen | Part Sixteen | Part Seventeen | Part Eighteen | Part Nineteen | Part Twenty
“It doesn’t look so bad,” Isamot said as he helped Kyle down to Soranik’s sickbay. “Much better than the last time, yes?”
Kyle nodded. Last time he’d been stabbled in the gut by Bruce Wayne. The only reason he had lived was because the ring had healed him. But it could have been worse. He had been distracted and never thought to check the man for weapons. He could be dead now, and Sodam ... Well, he didn’t want to think about that.
He staggered through the sickbay door and Soranik stood up from her desk. “What happened to you?”
Kyle gave her a weak smile. “I got in a fight in a brothel.”
Soranik raised her eyebrows, then pointed to the bed. “Sit.” Kyle did as he was told and Soranik helped him take his coat and shirt off. She prodded at the wound for a moment, muttering to herself. “Lie on your back, I’ll need to clean it.” She grabbed a bottle of vinegar from her shelf.
“Do you have to?” Kyle asked, already gritting his teeth in anticipation of the pain.
“You know very well I do,” Soranik said. She turned to their crew mate. “Isamot, come hold him down.”
“Sorry,” Isamot said with a shrug as he put his hands on Kyle’s shoulders to keep him down on the bed.
“Now,” Soranik said, pulling up a chair so she could sit down to work on him. “Tell me what happened to you.”
Kyle told them everything that had happened to him, in between groaning in pain from the vinegar cleaning the hole in his side. Salaak came in halfway through the procedure with some good news. “The Captain wanted you to know that Sodam was not harmed. He’s more frightened about what happened to you than anything.”
“Thank you, Salaak,” Kyle said, reaching out to squeeze the man’s hand. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. He closed his eyes and swallowed the sob that threatened to escape. He had gotten there in time. The bastard hadn’t hurt him.
“Do you need a moment,” Soranik asked gently.
He shook his head. “No. Get this done so I can go see him.”
Soranik nodded. “Isamot, I don’t think we’ll need you anymore.”
Isamot patted Kyle on the shoulder. “You did very good today,” he said with a toothy grin. “Much to be proud of.” He turned and left, Salaak following behind him.
Soranik picked up a needle and thread. She pressed her fingers over the wound. “Hold still now.” Kyle hissed when the needle pierced his skin, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the vinegar. “You’re very lucky. I think the knife had trouble going through your coat, so you only got a slice. There’s no serious damage.” She worked a few more stitches in silence, then leaned over to look in his eyes. “Are you going to stay with us, or have you decided to leave?”
Kyle sighed. “I haven’t really thought about it. I suppose it depends on what Hal says, if Sodam can stay. I’m not going to give him up again.”
“After you left, I’ve never seen him look so broken when he was staring down at that pendant lying at his feet. He was sure he had driven you away, lost you for good.” She turned back to her stitching. “He may be a stubborn idiot at times, but he loves you deeply, Kyle. He just seems to have a habit of acting before thinking when it comes to people he loves and is trying to protect.”
“Like abandoning them in Havana?” Kyle muttered.
Soranik chuckled. “Exactly that.” She sat back. “There. All sewn up.” Kyle sat up and she wrapped a bandage around his waist “Hopefully the ring will heal you quickly again. We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow.”
Kyle thanked her and gathered up his coat -- the shirt was beyond repair -- and hurried back to the cabin.
He stopped in the doorway, surprised at the sight in front of him. Hal was sitting on the couch under the windows, Tortuga’s moon-lit wharf barely visible on the horizon. Sodam was on his lap, eating a peach and asking questions about the ship again. But unlike the last time, Hal was smiling.
Kyle shut the door and Sodam looked up. “Kyle!” Kyle smiled and went to sit next to them. Sodam moved over to his lap and hugged him. “Are you still hurt?”
“No. Soranik fixed me up.” He patted the boy’s back. “How are you?”
“Captain Hal was telling me about the ship again,” he said. “He’s not so grouchy anymore.”
Hal raised his eyebrows and Kyle laughed. “That’s good to hear.” He combed his fingers through Sodam’s hair. “I need to talk to Captain Hal. Will you be all right alone here for a little while?”
“I won’t be alone,” Sodam said. “Mona’s here.” He looked over at the other end of the couch where Mona was digging into Kyle’s coat pocket for the pumpkin seeds.
Kyle saw that Hal had brought her cage back. “You can give her a cookie,” he said to Sodam. “She’s been a very good girl today.”
He slid out from under Sodam and stood up, grimacing at the pain in his side. He and Hal went into their bedroom and Kyle closed the door.
“How’s your side?” Hal asked, brushing his fingers over the skin above the bandage.
“Soranik said I was lucky. It wasn’t deep, just a cut.”
“Good,” Hal said. Then he grabbed Kyle and held him in a tight embrace. “You scared the hell out of me, you know that?”
Kyle nodded. “I know.” He wrapped his arms around Hal. “You checked over Sodam? He’s really all right?”
“Yes. He’s fine. I asked him very specific questions. He grew up in that brothel, has seen a lot of things, so he knew what I was asking about. He said one of the girls stripped him and locked him in the room. The man never touched him except to hit him when Sodam called out to you. Maybe it’s a miracle, but you got there just in time.”
“I keep thinking about it,” Kyle said. “If the violin player hadn’t overheard me asking about him and pointed me that way, if Mona hadn’t been there at the window ...” He took a shuddering breath and buried his face in Hal’s neck.
Hal kissed his head. “It’s over. He’s safe.”
Kyle nodded, then pulled back to look at him. “Why the change of heart about him? No longer being a grouch, as Sodam said?”
Hal let him go and sat down on the bed. “When I was in the Navy ... the enemy targets the powder monkeys, did you know that? They purposely shoot the children, so the cannons can’t be reloaded. Our ships did the same thing.” He leaned forward, head in hands. “I had to make him leave, because if we’re in a fight and he’s seen ...” He drew in a deep breath. “I saw how happy you are with him, how much you want to be a father to him. And I don’t want you to lose him like that. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Kyle sat next to him and put his arm around him. “You should have told me that to begin with. You make decisions ‘for my own good’ without telling me about it. First Havana, now this.”
“I know.” Hal shrugged. “I suppose it’s too many years of being a captain. I’m used to giving orders and making things happen without consulting anyone.”
“That is going to have to change, Captain Jordan,” Kyle said. He lay his head on Hal’s shoulder. “I may be part of your crew, but I also thought I was your family. If you still want me.”
Hal took his hand and squeezed it. “Of course I do.” He reached into his pocket, then turned Kyle’s hand over, palm up, to press something into it. The ‘love token’ pendant. “I meant it when I gave this to you, Kyle.”
“And Sodam?”
Hal sighed. “Today has proven that there is just as much danger on land for him. And if the boy is going to run away anytime we try to find him a home, then I suppose we should keep him on the ship. However...” He turned to look at Kyle. “I’m not the only one who can make that decision. If he’s going to stay, the Lantern needs to agree to it as well. After the ordeal with Amon Sur, I can’t trust anyone the Lantern does not choose to be on the crew.”
Kyle nodded. “I understand.”
“What will you do if he doesn’t see the light?”
“We’ll go to England and I’ll take my place as Lord Rayner.” He shrugged. “Maybe I was meant to get that letter now.”
“You can worry over that, if needed, after we test him,” Hal said. “But I don’t think you will.” He smiled. “I think the Lantern will like Sodam. He’s a charming child, isn’t he?” He leaned in and gave Kyle a quick kiss. “I had to work very hard to try not to get attached to him myself. But I failed.” He stood up and went out into the cabin, leaving Kyle gaping after him.
Sodam was still sitting on the couch. He had found the bag of money from Kyle’s coat and was making little piles of the coins. Mona was on his shoulder, studying the crystal prism in her tiny hands. Hal was already pulling the Lantern out of the trunk.
“What’s that,” Sodam asked. He stood up and Mona wrapped her tail around his upper arm like a rope to steady herself.
“Maybe you should tell me what it is,” Hal said. He set his burden on the table and pulled the cloth away.
A green glow filled the room. Sodam squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand. “It’s a lantern. But how is it glowing?” he asked. “Is it magic?”
Kyle blew out a sigh of relief. “Exactly that. But you mustn’t tell anyone about it,” Kyle said. “It’s the ships heart, and only people she likes can see the light. It’s a secret for the crew only. The ship protects us, so we must protect her as well.”
Sodam nodded, wide-eyed. “So I can stay with you and Captain Hal?”
Kyle looked up at Hal.
Hal nodded and patted the boy on the head. “It means you can stay.”
Mona jumped from Sodam’s shoulder to the table. She cocked her head, then waved her hands through the beams of green light, making the dust motes swirl like snow. “Mona can see it, too!” Sodam exclaimed.
Kyle grinned at Hal. Hal just shook his head and wrapped up the Lantern. “I have a monkey on my crew,” he mumbled as he packed it back in its trunk.
There was a knock on the door and Kyle opened it. Salaak was on the other side, some folded cloth in his hand. “Are you ready for supper, Captain. I didn’t want to send it in until ... well, you had things to deal with first.”
“I think we’ll eat with the crew tonight, Salaak.” Hal said.
Salaak nodded, then turned to Kyle. “I made the boy some clothes. Just some pyjamas sewn from a sheet, but it will work until you can get him something better.”
“Thank you, Salaak,” Kyle said, taking the pile of clothing.
Salaak smiled and bowed his head. “You’re very welcome.”
The pyjamas were a little big for Sodam, but far better than the rags Kyle had found him in. He didn’t have shoes, but that wouldn’t matter until they reached England -- everyone except Hal was barefoot most of the time while on the ship.
Salaak had set places for them at the end of the crew’s table. Mona sat on Sodam’s lap and Kyle handed her a piece of bread. Sodam picked up his fork, ready to dig in. Kyle sat down across from him, but Hal remained standing at the end of the table and all eyes turned to him. Hal put his hand on Sodam’s shoulder. “I am happy to announce that Mister Yat has seen the light.” The crew cheered and congratulated Sodam. Hal sat down and Kyle reached under the table to squeeze his hand.
“It appears you got yourself an apprentice, Captain,” Salaak said.
Hal nodded and winked at Sodam. “Yes, it appears I needed one after all, Mister Salaak.”
Next Chapter
Author: Aranel Took
Characters: Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner
Challenge: there_n_back Advent Calendar Challenge - Day 21
Prompts: bottle, wharf, violin, moon, monkey, fork, hole, lock, sheet, pendant, crystal, cookie, letter, money, tail, chair, bread, seed, peaches, snow, rope
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2100
Summary: Elseworld. Pirate!verse! Christmas in Tortuga.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | Part Twelve | Part Thirteen | Part Fourteen | Part Fifteen | Part Sixteen | Part Seventeen | Part Eighteen | Part Nineteen | Part Twenty
“It doesn’t look so bad,” Isamot said as he helped Kyle down to Soranik’s sickbay. “Much better than the last time, yes?”
Kyle nodded. Last time he’d been stabbled in the gut by Bruce Wayne. The only reason he had lived was because the ring had healed him. But it could have been worse. He had been distracted and never thought to check the man for weapons. He could be dead now, and Sodam ... Well, he didn’t want to think about that.
He staggered through the sickbay door and Soranik stood up from her desk. “What happened to you?”
Kyle gave her a weak smile. “I got in a fight in a brothel.”
Soranik raised her eyebrows, then pointed to the bed. “Sit.” Kyle did as he was told and Soranik helped him take his coat and shirt off. She prodded at the wound for a moment, muttering to herself. “Lie on your back, I’ll need to clean it.” She grabbed a bottle of vinegar from her shelf.
“Do you have to?” Kyle asked, already gritting his teeth in anticipation of the pain.
“You know very well I do,” Soranik said. She turned to their crew mate. “Isamot, come hold him down.”
“Sorry,” Isamot said with a shrug as he put his hands on Kyle’s shoulders to keep him down on the bed.
“Now,” Soranik said, pulling up a chair so she could sit down to work on him. “Tell me what happened to you.”
Kyle told them everything that had happened to him, in between groaning in pain from the vinegar cleaning the hole in his side. Salaak came in halfway through the procedure with some good news. “The Captain wanted you to know that Sodam was not harmed. He’s more frightened about what happened to you than anything.”
“Thank you, Salaak,” Kyle said, reaching out to squeeze the man’s hand. He felt like a weight had been lifted off of him. He closed his eyes and swallowed the sob that threatened to escape. He had gotten there in time. The bastard hadn’t hurt him.
“Do you need a moment,” Soranik asked gently.
He shook his head. “No. Get this done so I can go see him.”
Soranik nodded. “Isamot, I don’t think we’ll need you anymore.”
Isamot patted Kyle on the shoulder. “You did very good today,” he said with a toothy grin. “Much to be proud of.” He turned and left, Salaak following behind him.
Soranik picked up a needle and thread. She pressed her fingers over the wound. “Hold still now.” Kyle hissed when the needle pierced his skin, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the vinegar. “You’re very lucky. I think the knife had trouble going through your coat, so you only got a slice. There’s no serious damage.” She worked a few more stitches in silence, then leaned over to look in his eyes. “Are you going to stay with us, or have you decided to leave?”
Kyle sighed. “I haven’t really thought about it. I suppose it depends on what Hal says, if Sodam can stay. I’m not going to give him up again.”
“After you left, I’ve never seen him look so broken when he was staring down at that pendant lying at his feet. He was sure he had driven you away, lost you for good.” She turned back to her stitching. “He may be a stubborn idiot at times, but he loves you deeply, Kyle. He just seems to have a habit of acting before thinking when it comes to people he loves and is trying to protect.”
“Like abandoning them in Havana?” Kyle muttered.
Soranik chuckled. “Exactly that.” She sat back. “There. All sewn up.” Kyle sat up and she wrapped a bandage around his waist “Hopefully the ring will heal you quickly again. We’ll see what it looks like tomorrow.”
Kyle thanked her and gathered up his coat -- the shirt was beyond repair -- and hurried back to the cabin.
He stopped in the doorway, surprised at the sight in front of him. Hal was sitting on the couch under the windows, Tortuga’s moon-lit wharf barely visible on the horizon. Sodam was on his lap, eating a peach and asking questions about the ship again. But unlike the last time, Hal was smiling.
Kyle shut the door and Sodam looked up. “Kyle!” Kyle smiled and went to sit next to them. Sodam moved over to his lap and hugged him. “Are you still hurt?”
“No. Soranik fixed me up.” He patted the boy’s back. “How are you?”
“Captain Hal was telling me about the ship again,” he said. “He’s not so grouchy anymore.”
Hal raised his eyebrows and Kyle laughed. “That’s good to hear.” He combed his fingers through Sodam’s hair. “I need to talk to Captain Hal. Will you be all right alone here for a little while?”
“I won’t be alone,” Sodam said. “Mona’s here.” He looked over at the other end of the couch where Mona was digging into Kyle’s coat pocket for the pumpkin seeds.
Kyle saw that Hal had brought her cage back. “You can give her a cookie,” he said to Sodam. “She’s been a very good girl today.”
He slid out from under Sodam and stood up, grimacing at the pain in his side. He and Hal went into their bedroom and Kyle closed the door.
“How’s your side?” Hal asked, brushing his fingers over the skin above the bandage.
“Soranik said I was lucky. It wasn’t deep, just a cut.”
“Good,” Hal said. Then he grabbed Kyle and held him in a tight embrace. “You scared the hell out of me, you know that?”
Kyle nodded. “I know.” He wrapped his arms around Hal. “You checked over Sodam? He’s really all right?”
“Yes. He’s fine. I asked him very specific questions. He grew up in that brothel, has seen a lot of things, so he knew what I was asking about. He said one of the girls stripped him and locked him in the room. The man never touched him except to hit him when Sodam called out to you. Maybe it’s a miracle, but you got there just in time.”
“I keep thinking about it,” Kyle said. “If the violin player hadn’t overheard me asking about him and pointed me that way, if Mona hadn’t been there at the window ...” He took a shuddering breath and buried his face in Hal’s neck.
Hal kissed his head. “It’s over. He’s safe.”
Kyle nodded, then pulled back to look at him. “Why the change of heart about him? No longer being a grouch, as Sodam said?”
Hal let him go and sat down on the bed. “When I was in the Navy ... the enemy targets the powder monkeys, did you know that? They purposely shoot the children, so the cannons can’t be reloaded. Our ships did the same thing.” He leaned forward, head in hands. “I had to make him leave, because if we’re in a fight and he’s seen ...” He drew in a deep breath. “I saw how happy you are with him, how much you want to be a father to him. And I don’t want you to lose him like that. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Kyle sat next to him and put his arm around him. “You should have told me that to begin with. You make decisions ‘for my own good’ without telling me about it. First Havana, now this.”
“I know.” Hal shrugged. “I suppose it’s too many years of being a captain. I’m used to giving orders and making things happen without consulting anyone.”
“That is going to have to change, Captain Jordan,” Kyle said. He lay his head on Hal’s shoulder. “I may be part of your crew, but I also thought I was your family. If you still want me.”
Hal took his hand and squeezed it. “Of course I do.” He reached into his pocket, then turned Kyle’s hand over, palm up, to press something into it. The ‘love token’ pendant. “I meant it when I gave this to you, Kyle.”
“And Sodam?”
Hal sighed. “Today has proven that there is just as much danger on land for him. And if the boy is going to run away anytime we try to find him a home, then I suppose we should keep him on the ship. However...” He turned to look at Kyle. “I’m not the only one who can make that decision. If he’s going to stay, the Lantern needs to agree to it as well. After the ordeal with Amon Sur, I can’t trust anyone the Lantern does not choose to be on the crew.”
Kyle nodded. “I understand.”
“What will you do if he doesn’t see the light?”
“We’ll go to England and I’ll take my place as Lord Rayner.” He shrugged. “Maybe I was meant to get that letter now.”
“You can worry over that, if needed, after we test him,” Hal said. “But I don’t think you will.” He smiled. “I think the Lantern will like Sodam. He’s a charming child, isn’t he?” He leaned in and gave Kyle a quick kiss. “I had to work very hard to try not to get attached to him myself. But I failed.” He stood up and went out into the cabin, leaving Kyle gaping after him.
Sodam was still sitting on the couch. He had found the bag of money from Kyle’s coat and was making little piles of the coins. Mona was on his shoulder, studying the crystal prism in her tiny hands. Hal was already pulling the Lantern out of the trunk.
“What’s that,” Sodam asked. He stood up and Mona wrapped her tail around his upper arm like a rope to steady herself.
“Maybe you should tell me what it is,” Hal said. He set his burden on the table and pulled the cloth away.
A green glow filled the room. Sodam squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand. “It’s a lantern. But how is it glowing?” he asked. “Is it magic?”
Kyle blew out a sigh of relief. “Exactly that. But you mustn’t tell anyone about it,” Kyle said. “It’s the ships heart, and only people she likes can see the light. It’s a secret for the crew only. The ship protects us, so we must protect her as well.”
Sodam nodded, wide-eyed. “So I can stay with you and Captain Hal?”
Kyle looked up at Hal.
Hal nodded and patted the boy on the head. “It means you can stay.”
Mona jumped from Sodam’s shoulder to the table. She cocked her head, then waved her hands through the beams of green light, making the dust motes swirl like snow. “Mona can see it, too!” Sodam exclaimed.
Kyle grinned at Hal. Hal just shook his head and wrapped up the Lantern. “I have a monkey on my crew,” he mumbled as he packed it back in its trunk.
There was a knock on the door and Kyle opened it. Salaak was on the other side, some folded cloth in his hand. “Are you ready for supper, Captain. I didn’t want to send it in until ... well, you had things to deal with first.”
“I think we’ll eat with the crew tonight, Salaak.” Hal said.
Salaak nodded, then turned to Kyle. “I made the boy some clothes. Just some pyjamas sewn from a sheet, but it will work until you can get him something better.”
“Thank you, Salaak,” Kyle said, taking the pile of clothing.
Salaak smiled and bowed his head. “You’re very welcome.”
The pyjamas were a little big for Sodam, but far better than the rags Kyle had found him in. He didn’t have shoes, but that wouldn’t matter until they reached England -- everyone except Hal was barefoot most of the time while on the ship.
Salaak had set places for them at the end of the crew’s table. Mona sat on Sodam’s lap and Kyle handed her a piece of bread. Sodam picked up his fork, ready to dig in. Kyle sat down across from him, but Hal remained standing at the end of the table and all eyes turned to him. Hal put his hand on Sodam’s shoulder. “I am happy to announce that Mister Yat has seen the light.” The crew cheered and congratulated Sodam. Hal sat down and Kyle reached under the table to squeeze his hand.
“It appears you got yourself an apprentice, Captain,” Salaak said.
Hal nodded and winked at Sodam. “Yes, it appears I needed one after all, Mister Salaak.”
Next Chapter